Len,

>There must have been reasons for making sure they were anchored as areas
>over which Cyprus had no claim

I'm not sure Cyprus was ever really sovereign territory of the UK. I think
it was originally considered a British administered part of the Ottoman
Empire under the terms of an agreement made in 1878 (in return for military
aid). Indeed, the British government even paid a rent to the Sultan!

However, Cyprus was annexed in 1914 when the Ottoman Empire entered WWI on
the side of Germany. Although Turkey relinquished its claims to the island
in the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), Ottoman law continued to operate until
the mid-1930s and I'm not sure it was ever formally declared to be part of
the British Empire.

The reasons for wanting to safeguard the status of the bases are that
they're highly strategic. They provide important communications facilities
close to the Middle East, not to mention that they can be used as a staging
post.

>UK's desire to not have the embarrassment beset them that were later to
>see the loss of Hong Kong.

At the risk of digressing, the UK was entitled to retain Hong Kong Island
and Kowloon after 1997, but unfortunately most of the industry and
utilities were in the New Territories. The colony was (quite rightly)
deemed to be unviable if it was split up, which is why a compromise
agreement was reached. You can visit Boundary Road in downtown Kowloon
(which marked the boundary between the original colony and the New
Territories), and see how impossible it would have been to divide the two
parts.

Regards,

Kevin Meynell